I'll Be There By Your Side
by Reina
Summary: Something's wrong with Duo. Seriously wrong. He NEVER gets drunk. So what's bugging him now? *Kindda violent...* *Note* takes place shortly after the end of Endless Waltz. (also Romance) Please R&R!
1. I'll Be There By Your Side

I'll Be There By Your Side: part 1

By: Hilde

Note: I only own the story, don't sue.

Also: It's the future, the drinking age has been lowered to 16. Stupid, but it works.

She looked up at the clock. It was getting late. Duo still hadn't returned.

"Where is he?" he wondered, as she angrily thrust another dish into the soapy water, and scrubbed it vigorously. "It was his turn to do the dishes tonight, too," she thought.

Duo had left only a few hours ago, shortly after they ate dinner.

_"Hey Hilde, I'm going to take a short walk outside. I'll do the dishes when I get back, k?"_

_"Sure Duo. Just be careful, and don't stay out too late."_

Duo gave Hilde a quick peck on the cheek, and reached for the door. "Don't worry about it, Babe," he said as he walked out the door, closing it behind him.

That was the last she'd seen him.

"He could at least call, and tell me he's going to be late, or where he is!"

It was going on the third hour since Duo had left, eleven o'clock at night. Fears started to form in Hilde's mind.

"What if he's been abducted, or mugged? No, he's a Gundam pilot, he wouldn't. Street fight? Maybe. Probably got distracted. That is sooo like him," she continued, her mind ruling out each "what if" and "maybe."

Hilde looked up at the clock again, 11:15. She realized she had been scrubbing the same dish for fifteen minutes. Finally, she put the last dish in the dishwasher.

Click-click. The door opened. Duo walked in, grinning like an idiot. Hilde was standing in front of him, arms crossed, ready to "greet" him. Duo slammed the door shut, then turned to face Hilde.

"Duo Maxwell! Where have you been?!" she practically yelled in his face.

"Out," Duo replied, stepping into a better-lighted area of the room.

His clothes were ripped and muddy, with a few minor bloodstains and he had a few bruises and scratches.

"Duo! Are you all right? Just where HAVE you been. And what HAVE you been doing?" concern for Duo overtaking her anger.

"Sike I 'ed, ou'. Hahaha. Fight. Haha. I won," Duo replied, slurring his works, but still smiling like an idiot.

"Have you been?" Hilde started, but thought of a better way to find out. She walked over to Duo, and kissed him. "You've been drinking again, haven't you?"

"Woohoo! Some kiss, Hot Lips!" Duo almost yelled.

"I'll take that as a yes. Now get into the bathroom, and clean yourself up. Then put on a new set of clothes."

Duo stopped smiling and looked totally serious. He glared at Hilde. It wasn't a normal, "back off" or "playful" glare. It was like "leave me alone, or I'll kill you."

Hilde backed off. The look on Duo's face was so intense, it scared her.

"Duo," she whined.

Duo just glared in response.

Hilde mustered all her courage, she HAD to make sure Duo was okay, and walked over to Duo, took his arm and tried to get him to walk with her.

Duo didn't budge. Then, he raised his other arm, and brought his hand to Hilde's face. Hilde let go of Duo's arm, and staggered back, hand to her face, where Duo had just slapped her. He had never hurt her before, physically, at least. Something was definitely wrong.

"I told you, leave me ALONE!" he yelled at Hilde, before running to the bathroom.

Hilde heard a loud, angry yell, then a powerful bang on the wall, and felt it tremor through the apartment. Hilde ran to her room, closed the door behind her, flopped onto her bed, and started to cry into one of her white pillows.

A few minutes late, she heard the sound of retching coming from the bathroom. Hilde was too angry at Duo. Angry for slapping her, angry for staying out so late, without a note or call, and making her worry so much. Angry for letting him go out at night, when he would do something like this. Sure, a quick trip to the bar now and then, but Duo NEVER got drunk. Until now. Something was wrong, and she was just lying in bed, crying about it. Angry at herself for being so selfish.

"Duo, I wish you would tell me what's wrong. I can help. Please," she whispered her request hoarsely into her tear-wet pillow.

Duo had been in his room a while now, trying to clear his head, but not sleep. Anything but sleep. Finally, he came to a decision. He crept silently down the short hallway, to Hilde's room. He was grateful the door was only closed, not locked; he didn't want to have to pick the lock to his best friend's room.

"Hilde? Hey, you awake?" he whispered, as he poked his head in her midnight-dark room.

When Hilde didn't respond, he figured she was asleep, and silently closed the door and sighed. He didn't look forward to another night like, well, he didn't want to think about it.

End of part 1.

Bum bum bumm… Ahem, maybe not, but there IS a part 2. Please let me know what you think of this one, so I'll do the next one ASAP! Thanx!


	2. I'll Be There By Your Side (part 2) (don...

I'll Be There By Your Side

Part 2

By: Hilde

**NOTE**: I don't own GW, the characters, etc. You know all that stuff, yada, yada, yada…

Hilde had almost fallen asleep. She had been up thinking. Something was very wrong with Duo. He had NEVER gotten that way with her. So what was it? "Duo, if only you'd tell me. I won't laugh, I can help, I lov…" he thought were interrupted by a yell.

Her room was still dark, with just a hint of moonlight, from the opposite side. She looked around, mind scrambling in half-sleep to find out was it was, and where it was coming from.

There it was again. No mistaking that. It was coming from Duo's room.

"After the away he was tonight, I have to go see if he's all right. You'd think he'd have a serious hangover after that. Must be really bad…" Hilde worried as she crept down the hall to Duo's room.

The door had been left ajar. Hilde poked her head in, and searched in the dim moonlight for Duo. She could only make out a shivering, shadow-soaked figure on Duo's bed.

"Duo?" Hilde asked as she walked in. "Are you okay?"

"Go… away…" Duo managed to choke out, even though he didn't protest when Hilde sat down near him.

Duo had his face buried in his pillow. Hilde reached out to stroke his hair, but Duo blocked he with a sharp, quick block, using his arm. Hilde quickly withdrew her arm.

"Duo… What wrong? Please tell me Duo."

"Everything," Duo muttered into his pillow.

Hilde tried again to stroke Duo's chestnut brown hair. This time he had no objections.

"Please, Duo. Tell me," Hilde whispered as she ran her fingers through Duo wavy hair.

"Hilde, everything. Just everything."

Duo looked up from his pillow at Hilde. She could see the shiny mix of sweat and tears on his face, as they reflected some of the silver moonlight. His eyes didn't have their normal "happy" glow, but a sad, hopeless, given-up look. Seeing Duo like this tore at Hilde's heart.

Duo sat up, and Hilde pulled him close to her, using her arms that were now around his back.

"Hilde, I'm scared," Duo whispered, as he settled his head on Hilde's breast. Then he started to cry again.

Oh, Duo," Hilde said as she held him even tighter.

"I'm sick of the wars, sick of the killing… the death… pain. Just about everyone that ever mattered to me died. I can't even remember my parents…" he didn't want to continue.

Hilde just held him close, listening intently to every word he spoke.

"You don't have to continue, if you don't want to, Duo."

"No, I have to tell someone. I was an orphan… But I was with a group. We stole things just to live. We didn't have names, except for Solo, who was my best friend then. Once, when I was getting some food for us, I ran into this priest. He let me go though. But later, while we were eating, they came to 'our house'. I did a good enough job taking every detour, just in case they were following me, but somehow they figured it out. They came to take us in. We resisted, orphanages split kids up, even if they're real family. At least we were together, and free. But the got us. We were taken to a church, where they cared for us. They even sent us to school. Then one day, when I came home, OZ soldiers…" his voice trailed off.

"Duo…" Hilde said, she never knew this about Duo; it must've been awful. She wished she could do something more for him. "Duo?"

Duo had fazed out, asleep, but his eyes were still open. He started mumbling something, Hilde couldn't make it out, but he sounded terrified, and angry.

Suddenly, he stood up, knocking Hilde over. Sleepwalking, he was sleepwalking. He quickly grabbed something off the nightstand, and for a second, Hilde saw a glint of black metal in the moonlight. Duo pointed the gun straight at Hilde's head.

"Duo, it's me, Hilde. Please put the gun down…" she said timidly as she got up, knowing that Duo could kill her simply by moving his finger, which was already tight enough on the trigger.

****"NO YOU DON'T!!! STOP IT!!! LEAVE FATHER MAXWELL ALONE YOU OZ SCUM!!!!" he suddenly yelled at Hilde.

"WHY CAN'T YOU JUST LEAVE US ALONE?!!!"

Duo suddenly lunged at Hilde, pinning her to the wall.

"Duo, don't make me restrain you," Hilde threatened, remembering her training from OZ.

Duo remained silent, except for his glare. Hilde stopped struggling, and hoped he would calm down just enough to let up on her a little. Finally, his grip loosened. Hilde took the opportunity immediately. She forced him back, causing him to fall on the floor, then pinned Duo to the floor, arms spread out. She didn't realize she was straddling Duo; it was such a standard reflex.

Duo finally calmed down, somewhat, chest still heaving. When he woke up, though, he started half-heartedly yelling.

"Sister Helen? No, please, first him, now you, please don't…" he started to cry again.

"Solo, Solo, say something. SOLO!!!! No, NO, NNNNOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" he yelled.

"Duo!" Hilde yelled.

Duo snapped out of it, and just broke down, crying. Hilde let him go, and helped him back to bed.

"Duo, I'm here," she said, brushing his bangs out of his face, then caressing his cheek. She pulled him close to her, again. Duo just cried into her.

"Is there any way out?" He started asking strange questions.

"Duo, it's okay, I'm here…"

"No, it's not, okay, Hilde," he said, pulling away from her. "I know the war is over, but I just can't get over everything that's happened. Everyone I ever cared about, has died. I really am the god of death…" he started to cry again.

Hilde slipped under the covers with Duo. Duo was at first surprised, but that melted into relief.

"I'll be here," Hilde said, holding Duo close in her arms.

Duo smiled, then tears of happiness formed in his eyes. "Thank you, Hilde. Thanks for everything…"

"Duo," Hilde began, "I love you."

Duo smiled again. "No one's every really lived long enough to really care about me, Hilde. I'm glad someone loves me." He paused, before continuing, "Hilde, I love you too."

They both smiled at each other, before falling asleep, safe in each other's arms.

# End of part 2

So, what? You like or no? Please leave feedback. I don't know if I should do a "sequel" or not, I don't really have many ideas for one… Oh well. I hope you enjoyed this piece. Thank you for reading, (and writing a review, I hope).^_^


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